Kaitlin Hopkins
Encyclopedia
Kaitlin Hopkins is an American
stage
, screen
, and television
actress, the daughter of actress Shirley Knight
and stage producer/director Gene Persson
.
Born in New York City
, Hopkins was raised in London
by her mother and stepfather John Hopkins
, but returned to New York at the age of twelve. The following year she began her career in a summer stock
production of The Children's Hour
starring her mother and Joanne Woodward
. She attended the musical theater program at Carnegie Mellon University
and studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London.
Hopkins' first television credit was an appearance on the soap opera
One Life to Live
, followed by a regular role on Another World
. In 1993, she moved to Los Angeles
, where she joined The Matrix Theatre Company. She spent weekends singing at The Pink in Santa Monica
, and later performed at The Cinegrill, The Gardina, and At My Place. During this period, her television credits included Beverly Hills, 90210
, Murder, She Wrote
, The Practice
, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
, Spin City
and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman
.
In 1994, Hopkins was cast in the rock opera
I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky
by Peter Sellars
. She spent the next year traveling the world with the production, performing in Paris
, Hamburg
, Helsinki
, Montreal
, and at the Edinburgh Festival
, among other locales.
In 2002, Hopkins made her Broadway
debut in Noises Off
. She has also appeared in the Lincoln Center
benefit performance of Anything Goes
with Patti LuPone
and How the Grinch Stole Christmas
.
Hopkins has performed in numerous live radio
plays for LA Theater Works, including Proof
with Anne Heche
and The Heidi Chronicles
with Martha Plimpton
.
Hopkins teaches master class
es in acting, musical theater performance, on-camera auditioning, and vocalizing at performing arts high schools and colleges throughout the US and coached students privately in New York City, where she lived with her husband, playwright/actor/composer Jim Price. She previously was married to actor/director Daniel Passer and was engaged to actor Judge Reinhold
.
Kaitlin and Jim currently reside in San Marcos, Texas
as Kaitlin Hopkins was named the new Head of Musical Theatre at Texas State University under Department Chair, Dr. John Fleming. Along with Head of Musical Theatre Dance, Robin Lewis (Broadway: The Producers
, Fosse
and A Chorus Line
national tour). Texas State has kicked off 2009 with its goal of becoming a top training school for Musical Theatre performers. It's the goal of the professors to produce actors, dancers, and singers with artistic integrity and a well rounded approach to the business and craft of Musical Theatre.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
stage
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
, screen
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
actress, the daughter of actress Shirley Knight
Shirley Knight
Shirley Enola Knight is an American stage, film and television actress. She has been nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, in 1960 for The Dark at the Top of the Stairs and in 1962 for Sweet Bird of Youth....
and stage producer/director Gene Persson
Gene Persson
Eugene Persson was an American actor, theatrical and film producer. He was, perhaps, best known for his work as the co-producer and co-creator of the original 1967 production of the Broadway musical comedy, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, as well as the show's 1999 Broadway revival, which won...
.
Born in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Hopkins was raised in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
by her mother and stepfather John Hopkins
John Hopkins (writer)
John Richard Hopkins was an English film, stage, and television writer.Born in southwest London, he graduated from St Catharine's College, Cambridge...
, but returned to New York at the age of twelve. The following year she began her career in a summer stock
Summer Stock
For the article about the theatre genre, see Summer stock theatre.Summer Stock is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical made in 1950. The film was directed by Charles Walters and stars Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Eddie Bracken, Gloria DeHaven, Marjorie Main, and Phil Silvers...
production of The Children's Hour
The Children's Hour (play)
The Children's Hour is a 1934 stage play written by Lillian Hellman. It is a drama set in an all-girls boarding school run by two women, Karen Wright and Martha Dobie. An angry student, Mary Tilford, runs away from the school and to avoid being sent back she tells her grandmother that the two...
starring her mother and Joanne Woodward
Joanne Woodward
Joanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward is an American actress, television and theatrical producer, and widow of Paul Newman...
. She attended the musical theater program at Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
and studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London.
Hopkins' first television credit was an appearance on the soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
One Life to Live
One Life to Live
One Life to Live is an American soap opera which debuted on July 15, 1968 and has been broadcast on the ABC television network. Created by Agnes Nixon, the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature racially and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social...
, followed by a regular role on Another World
Another World (TV series)
Another World is an American television soap opera that ran on NBC from May 4, 1964 to June 25, 1999. It ran for a total of 35 years. It was created by Irna Phillips along with William J...
. In 1993, she moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, where she joined The Matrix Theatre Company. She spent weekends singing at The Pink in Santa Monica
Santa Mônica
Santa Mônica is a town and municipality in the state of Paraná in the Southern Region of Brazil.-References:...
, and later performed at The Cinegrill, The Gardina, and At My Place. During this period, her television credits included Beverly Hills, 90210
Beverly Hills, 90210
Beverly Hills, 90210 is an American drama series that originally aired from October 4, 1990 to May 17, 2000 on Fox and was produced by Spelling Television in the United States, and subsequently on various networks around the world. It is the first series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise...
, Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote is an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network, with 264 episodes transmitted. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series,...
, The Practice
The Practice
The Practice is an American legal drama created by David E. Kelley centering on the partners and associates at a Boston law firm. Running for eight seasons from 1997 to 2004, the show won the Emmy in 1998 and 1999 for Best Drama Series, and spawned the successful and lighter spin-off series Boston...
, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...
, Spin City
Spin City
Spin City is an American sitcom television series that aired from September 17, 1996 until April 30, 2002 on the ABC network. Created by Gary David Goldberg and Bill Lawrence, the show was based on a fictional local government running New York City, and originally starred Michael J. Fox as Mike...
and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman is an American post-Civil War western/drama series created by Beth Sullivan. Dr. Michaela "Mike" Quinn, played by Jane Seymour, left Boston in search of adventure. She goes to Colorado Springs, Colorado where she establishes herself as doctor/adviser.The show ran on CBS...
.
In 1994, Hopkins was cast in the rock opera
Rock opera
A rock opera is a work of rock music that presents a storyline told over multiple parts, songs or sections in the manner of opera. A rock opera differs from a conventional rock album, which usually includes songs that are not unified by a common theme or narrative. More recent developments include...
I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky
I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky
I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky is a 1995 musical/opera with music composed by John Adams, with a libretto by June Jordan. The work was first performed May 1995 in Berkeley, California with staging by Peter Sellars...
by Peter Sellars
Peter Sellars
Peter Sellars is an American theatre director, noted for his unique contemporary stagings of classical and contemporary operas and plays...
. She spent the next year traveling the world with the production, performing in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
, Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, and at the Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
, among other locales.
In 2002, Hopkins made her Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
debut in Noises Off
Noises Off
Noises Off is a 1982 play by English playwright Michael Frayn. The idea for it was born in 1970, when Frayn was standing in the wings watching a performance of Chinamen, a farce that he had written for Lynn Redgrave...
. She has also appeared in the Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of New York City's Upper West Side. Reynold Levy has been its president since 2002.-History and facilities:...
benefit performance of Anything Goes
Anything Goes
Anything Goes is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap antics aboard an ocean liner bound from New York to London...
with Patti LuPone
Patti LuPone
Patti Ann LuPone is an American singer and actress, known for her Tony Award-winning performances as Eva Perón in the 1979 stage musical Evita and as Madame Rose in the 2008 Broadway revival of Gypsy, and for her Olivier Award-winning performance as Fantine in the original London cast of Les...
and How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (musical)
Dr Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas! is a seasonal musical adaptation of the Dr. Seuss book How The Grinch Stole Christmas.-Minneapolis:...
.
Hopkins has performed in numerous live radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
plays for LA Theater Works, including Proof
Proof (play)
Proof is a play by David Auburn originally produced by the Manhattan Theatre Club on 23 May 2000. It then went to Broadway on 24 October 2000 at the Walter Kerr Theatre, and was directed by Daniel J. Sullivan, with Mary-Louise Parker as Catherine, Larry Bryggman as Robert, Ben Shenkman as Hal, and...
with Anne Heche
Anne Heche
Anne Celeste Heche is an American actress, director, and screenwriter. She started her career on the daytime soap opera Another World, for which she won a Daytime Emmy Award in 1991. Heche gradually landed supporting roles in feature films, and in 1997 appeared in I Know What You Did Last Summer,...
and The Heidi Chronicles
The Heidi Chronicles
The Heidi Chronicles is a 1988 play by Wendy Wasserstein. The play won the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.-Production history:A workshop production at Seattle Repertory Theatre was held in April 1988, directed by Daniel J. Sullivan....
with Martha Plimpton
Martha Plimpton
Martha Campbell Plimpton is an American actress and singer and former model. Plimpton is a screen, stage and television actress. She first appeared as Jonsy in the feature film River Rats before rising to prominence in the Richard Donner film The Goonies portraying the character Stef...
.
Hopkins teaches master class
Master class
A master class is a class given to students of a particular discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also painting, drama, or any of the arts....
es in acting, musical theater performance, on-camera auditioning, and vocalizing at performing arts high schools and colleges throughout the US and coached students privately in New York City, where she lived with her husband, playwright/actor/composer Jim Price. She previously was married to actor/director Daniel Passer and was engaged to actor Judge Reinhold
Judge Reinhold
Judge Reinhold is an American actor, perhaps best known for co-starring in movies such as Beverly Hills Cop, Ruthless People, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and The Santa Clause trilogy.-Early life:...
.
Kaitlin and Jim currently reside in San Marcos, Texas
San Marcos, Texas
San Marcos is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, and is the seat of Hays County. Located within the metropolitan area, the city is located on the Interstate 35 corridor—between Austin and San Antonio....
as Kaitlin Hopkins was named the new Head of Musical Theatre at Texas State University under Department Chair, Dr. John Fleming. Along with Head of Musical Theatre Dance, Robin Lewis (Broadway: The Producers
The Producers (musical)
The Producers is a musical adapted by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan from Brooks' 1968 film of the same name, with lyrics written by Brooks and music composed by Brooks and arranged by Glen Kelly and Doug Besterman. As in the film, the story concerns two theatrical producers who scheme to get rich...
, Fosse
Fosse
Fosse is a three-act musical revue showcasing the choreography of Bob Fosse. After 21 previews, the original Broadway production, conceived and directed by Richard Maltby, Jr...
and A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line is a 1975 musical about Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on a chorus line. The book was authored by James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nicholas Dante, lyrics were written by Edward Kleban, and music was composed by Marvin Hamlisch....
national tour). Texas State has kicked off 2009 with its goal of becoming a top training school for Musical Theatre performers. It's the goal of the professors to produce actors, dancers, and singers with artistic integrity and a well rounded approach to the business and craft of Musical Theatre.
Additional theatre credits
- Bare: A Pop Opera
- The Great American Trailer Park MusicalThe Great American Trailer Park MusicalThe Great American Trailer Park Musical is a two-act musical, written by David Nehls and Betsy Kelso. It was performed in the first annual New York Music Theater Festival in 2004...
- Bat Boy: The MusicalBat Boy: The MusicalBat Boy: The Musical is a musical with a book by Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming and music and lyrics by Laurence O'Keefe, based on a June 23, 1992 Weekly World News story about a half-boy, half-bat, dubbed "Bat Boy", found living in a cave....
- Come Back, Little ShebaCome Back, Little Sheba (play)Come Back, Little Sheba is a 1950 play by the American dramatist William Inge. The play was Inge's first, written while he was a teacher at Washington University in St...
- Disney's On the Record
- Present LaughterPresent LaughterPresent Laughter is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1939 and first staged in 1942 on tour, alternating with his lower middle-class domestic drama This Happy Breed...
- The PhilandererThe PhilandererThe Philanderer is a play by George Bernard Shaw.It was written in 1893 but the strict British Censorship laws at the time meant that it was not produced on stage until 1902....
- She Loves MeShe Loves MeShe Loves Me is a musical with a book by Joe Masteroff, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and music by Jerry Bock.The musical is the fifth adaptation of the play Parfumerie by Hungarian playwright Miklos Laszlo, following the 1940 James Stewart-Margaret Sullavan film The Shop around the Corner and the...
Additional film/television credits
- Confessions of a ShopaholicConfessions of a Shopaholic (film)Confessions of a Shopaholic is a 2009 American romantic comedy film based on the Shopaholic series of novels by Sophie Kinsella. Directed by P. J. Hogan, the film stars Isla Fisher as the shopaholic journalist and Hugh Dancy as her boss.-Plot:...
- The Nanny DiariesThe Nanny Diaries (film)The Nanny Diaries is a 2007 American comedy-drama film, based on the novel of the same name by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus. Written and directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, it stars Scarlett Johansson, Alicia Keys, Paul Giamatti, and Laura Linney; and was produced by Richard N...
- How to Kill Your Neighbor's DogHow to Kill Your Neighbor's DogHow to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog is a 2000 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Michael Kalesniko and produced by Michael Nozik, Nancy M. Ruff and Brad Weston.- Plot :...
- Crocodile Dundee in Los AngelesCrocodile Dundee in Los AngelesCrocodile Dundee in Los Angeles is a 2001 Australian-American comedy film, directed by Simon Wincer and starring Paul Hogan. It is the sequel to the 1988 film Crocodile Dundee II, which itself was the sequel to 1986's Crocodile Dundee and the third and final film of the trilogy...
- Little Boy BlueLittle Boy Blue"Little Boy Blue" is a popular English language nursery rhyme, often used in popular culture. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 11318.-Lyrics:The most common version of the rhyme is:...
- As Good as It GetsAs Good as It GetsAs Good as It Gets is a 1997 American romantic comedy film directed by James L. Brooks and produced by Laura Ziskin. It stars Jack Nicholson as a misanthropic, obsessive-compulsive novelist, Helen Hunt as a single mother with an asthmatic son, and Greg Kinnear as a gay artist. The screenplay was...
- Rescue MeRescue Me (TV series)Rescue Me is an American television drama series that premiered on the FX Network on July 21, 2004, and concluded on September 7, 2011. The series focuses on the professional and personal lives of a group of New York City firefighters in the fictitious Ladder 62 / Engine 99 firehouse.The show...
- ProvidenceProvidence (TV series)Providence is an American drama series that aired on NBC starring Melina Kanakaredes. The show ran for five seasons from January 8, 1999 until December 20, 2002.-Synopsis:The show revolves around Dr...
- Star Trek: VoyagerStar Trek: VoyagerStar Trek: Voyager is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe. Set in the 24th century from the year 2371 through 2378, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet vessel USS Voyager, which becomes stranded in the Delta Quadrant 70,000 light-years from Earth while...
- Star Trek: Deep Space NineStar Trek: Deep Space NineStar Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...
- The DivisionThe DivisionThe Division is an American Lifetime Television original series about a team of women police officers in the San Francisco Police Department. The series premiered on January 7, 2001 and ended on June 28, 2004 after 88 episodes.-Synopsis:...
- Wings